pupill

Pupill is an archaic or historical spelling of the English word pupil. In older texts, the form appears in contexts that today would use the modern word and can refer to either of the two primary senses the modern term supports: the part of the eye that regulates light, and a person who is taught or trained, typically a student under a tutor.

Origins and meaning: The modern pupil in reference to the eye derives from Latin pupilla oculi, meaning “little doll of the eye,” a metaphor for the small, protected aperture. The educational sense comes from Latin pupillus, meaning a ward or dependent child, via Old French and early English usage. The spelling variant pupill reflects early orthographic variation before standardization of English spelling.

Historical usage: In the 16th through 18th centuries, printers and scribes occasionally used "pupill" as a variant of "pupil." With the consolidation of spelling conventions, the form fell out of regular use and is now considered obsolete or dialectal in modern English.

Contemporary note: Today, "pupil" is the accepted spelling for both senses. The variant "pupill" may be encountered in philological or historical discussions or in transcriptions of early texts. It can serve as a reminder of how English spelling has evolved and how Latin roots influenced early English vocabulary.

See also: Pupil; Pupilla; Pupillary.